Mikhail Lifshitz: 1 Biography

Mikhail Lifshitz
He ended his studies there in 1925 because he disagreed

with his modernist oriented instructors. Instead, he was
oered a teaching position there; his job was to teach
Marxist philosophy to artists.[1]
He pursued an analysis of aesthetics from a fundamen-
tally Marxist perspective. His ideas became controver-
sial at Vkhutemas, so he had to leave in 1930. He was
oered a job instead at the Moscows Marx-Engels Insti-
tute, where he developed a working relationship with the
great Marxist philosopher Gyrgy Lukcs. Lukacs, him-
self, admitted that he was inuenced by Lifshitz' views
on Marxist aesthetics.
Starting in 1933, he edited an inuential Moscow mag-
azine The Literary Critic (Literaturny Kritik),[2] that
was also followed by Marxist art theoreticians around the
world through various translations published by Soviet
government.
Among the important contributors was writer Andrei
Platonov, one of the most intriguing writers of ction of
the Soviet period, who is often referred to as the Soviet
Kafka, as well as Gyrgy Lukcs.
By 1937, Lifshitz' productivity had decreased signi-
cantly; he produced almost no published work in the re-
pressive climate of the most intense years of Stalinism.[3]
Yet his magazine The Literary Critic continued publi-
cation until late 1940, when it was nally closed.
Lifshitz in the early 1930s
Following the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union Lif-
shitz entered the Second World War as a Red Army
Mikhail Aleksandrovich Lifshitz (Russian: volunteer.[3]
; July 23, 1905, in Melitopol,
Tavria (Crimea) September 28, 1983, in Moscow) Early on, he saw some serious combat. His unit was sur-
was an inuential Soviet Marxian literary critic and rounded by the German army, and he had to escape back
philosopher of art who had a long and controversial ca- through the front lines. Later on, he worked as a jour-
reer in the former Soviet Union. In the 1930s, he strongly nalist in military publications. He received awards for his
inuenced Marxist views on aesthetics while being a close service.
associate of Gyrgy Lukcs. He also published important
compilations of early Marxist literature on the role of art.
In 1975, he was elected as a full member of the USSR 1.1 Post-war career
Academy of Arts.
His post-war career as a critic was marked by consider-
able controversy. In the last years of Stalin, as a Jew, he
1 Biography was attacked as part of the "campaign against Cosmopoli-
tanism".
Born on July 23, 1905 in Melitopol, a Crimean city then After Stalins death in 1953, Lifshitz was in trouble again.
part of Imperial Russia, Lifshitz began higher education A pamphlet he published in 1954, criticizing the writer
as an art student at the Vkhutemas (Higher Art and Tech- Marietta Shaginyan, now displeased the old Stalinists, and
nical Studios) in Moscow in the early 1920s, which was provoked the ire of the established gures of Soviet intel-
then the hotbed of Modernism. lectual life. He was severely criticized in the press and
1
2 5 REFERENCES
denied employment. his critique of Western Modernist art, and his defence
According to some sources, at that stage, he was expelled of traditional art. His works are being republished again.
from the Communist Party.[3] Yet he perhaps was merely
severely sanctioned as a member, coming very close to
expulsion.[4] 2 Contributions
His life improved after the ocial de-Stalinization started
in 1956, and the sanctions against him were gradually Lifschitzs collection of Marx and Engelss views on aes-
lifted. Many of his works were published again. thetics Marx and Engels on Art was published in 1933
(also an extended edition of 1938) as the rst anthology
The same time-frame was also a period of Lifshitzs col- of its kind. It was also published in German in 1948.
laboration with the Soviet philosopher Evald Ilyenkov.
In 1938, he published a similar anthology of Lenins view
Ilyenkovs philosophy on aesthetics called Lenin on Culture and Art.
In 1926-1940, Lifschitz also published a very large
"...resembled that of Lifschitz in one im-
number of works dedicated to such diverse authorities
portant (and now almost forgotten) realm: the
as Giambattista Vico, Johann Joachim Winckelmann,
relationship between philosophy, culture (art,
Francesco Guicciardini, Balzac, Hegel, and Pushkin.
literature, music and so on) and the commu-
nist ideal of a new human being, formed as
a result of the political-economic changes to
come...[5] 3 Selected works (translations)
The Philosophy of Art of Karl Marx. Longwood
Lifshitzs main object of criticism in the 1960s was the
Publishing Group, 1980. (Original English transla-
modernist movement in the arts. From a political van-
tion of 1938); available also in the German trans-
tage point, Lifshitz, despite his criticism of the Soviet
lation (Lifschitz 1960), and the Spanish translation
system, remained a strong proponent of Marxist-Leninist
(Lifshits 1982)
socialism.
In the early 1960s, Lifshitz gave considerable support to Marx / Engels. ber Kunst und Literatur. Eine
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, then a beginning writer. Sammlung aus ihren Schriften. Henschel Verlag,
Berlin 1948 (6. Auage 1953). (German edition
of Marx and Engels on Art anthology.)
When in 1961 Alexander Solzhenitsyn
approached Alexander Tvardovsky about the Mikhail Lifshitz, Literature and Marxism: A Con-
publication of his now-famous One Day in Life troversy (1938)
of Ivan Denisovich ... Tvardovsky forwarded
Solzhenitsyns manuscript to one of his old-
est and most trusted friends, Mikhail Lifschitz. 4 See also
Lifschitzs report was unequivocal: 'It would be
a crime not to publish this work'.[5]
Philosophy in the Soviet Union
Yet later Solzhenitsyn was not kind in his remarks about

him. 5 References
Early on, Lifshitz was attacked in the mainstream Soviet
press because of his criticisms of Modernist art; towards [1] Based on Russian Wikipedia article
the end of his career he was honoured by the mainstream,
[2] Gutov D., Learn, learn and learn. In: Make Everything
and yet strongly disliked by the Soviet non-conformist
New - A Project on Communism. Edited by Grant Wat-
artists. son, Gerrie van Noord & Gavin Everall. Published by
Lifshitz died in Moscow on September 28, 1983, eight Book Works and Project Arts Centre, Dublin, 2006 PP.
years after his election as a full member of the USSR 24-37.
Academy of Arts, the most prestigious academic artistic [3] Gutov, Dmitriy. " "
organization within the Soviet Union. (Mikhail Aleksandrovich Lifshitz). 2003. Biographies.
The vast majority of his work remains untranslated. One Sovietika.ru. Retrieved 25 Apr. 2009. http://www.
sovetika.ru/bio/lifsh.htm (in Russian)
book on aesthetics, The Philosophy of Art of Karl Marx,
was published in the English translation in 1938, and re- [4] Based on Russian Wikipedia
published in 1980.
[5] Evgeni V. Pavlov (2012), Review of Perepiska (Letters),
Starting in the 1990s, Lifshitz acquired new popularity Mikhail Lifschitz and Gyrgy Lukcs. Moscow: Grun-
among the Nationalist circles in Russia, who appreciate drisse, 2011. Historical Materialism, 20:4, 187-198
3
6 External links
DMITRY GUTOV AND DAVID RIFF: IF OUR
SOUP CAN COULD SPEAK ... MIKHAIL LIF-
SHITZ AND THE SOVIET SIXTIES (2015)
Mikhail Lifshits, Excerpts from a late interview.

(First published in 1987) www.gutov.ru
Mikhail Lifshitz, What are the Classics? Frag-

ments from Chapter 9 The Meaning of the World
Moscow: Iskusstvo XXI vek Publishing House.
2004. (Ed. V. Arslanov) Translation from Russian:
David Ri
Art is dead! Long live art! Mikhail Lifshitz on

Karl Marxs Philosophy of Art. thecharnelhouse.org
" "A Russian-

language biographical sketch by Dmitriy Gutov.
www.sovetika.ru
4 7 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES
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mesotes.narod.ru/Lif-photo.htm Original artist: Academia de Ciencias de la URSS
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Mikhail Lifshitz

He ended his studies there in 1925 because he disagreed

Yet later Solzhenitsyn was not kind in his remarks about

Mikhail Lifshits, Excerpts from a late interview.

Mikhail Lifshitz, What are the Classics? Frag-

Art is dead! Long live art! Mikhail Lifshitz on

" "A Russian-

7 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

7.3 Content license

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